Beautiful Oblivion
by Potato Chippy Weezer
Summary: Major AU. As a fashion columnist for a very popular magazine, Paige Michalchuk is all about business. But her world is turned upside down when she meets her new party boy secretary, Gavin 'Spinner' Mason.
1. I Would Swallow My Pride

**Title:** Beautiful Oblivion

**Rating: **PG-13 for language and themes

**Characters: **Paige, Spinner, Terri, Ashley…(pretty much everyone, eventually)

**Pairings: **Paige/Spinner, not sure about any other pairings

**Summary: **Major AU. As a fashion columnist for a very popular magazine, Paige Michalchuk is all about business. But her world is turned upside down when she meets her new party boy secretary, Gavin 'Spinner' Mason.

**Disclaimer: **None of these characters belong to me. Don't sue.

**A/N: **Okay, I know it's stupid to write one Degrassi fic when I'm working on another. But fear not, 'Must Get Out' is my main project right now, this is just for fun. However, since this is just for fun, it won't be updated very often. Now, keep in mind when your reading this fic that it is AU, so forget everything that has happened in the Degrassi series. Erase it from your memory. In this crazy little story, Paige and Spinner have never met. Also, Paige is a little OOC. She's still snobby and mean, but more in the businesswoman like way rather than the gossipy teenage girl way. Also, later in the story I mention Spinner liking Yellowcard. I have no explanation for that one, Spinner just seems like someone who would like them. Now, on with the story **[ Ashley, 9-13-03 ]**

+WARNING: THIS STORY IS ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, SO THE THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED IN DEGRASSI THE SERIES MAY NOT HAVE HAPPENED IN THIS STORY+

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

"Ms. Michalchuk, your late," a woman with a crooked nose and thin lips said sternly to the petite woman that had just walked in.

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry Mrs. Mench," the woman said, taking off her sunglasses. She took off her jacket and slung it over her shoulder. "I know it's no excuse, but I was out late last night trying to get a word with Sue Wong. That dress she designed for Madonna caused quite a stir, I was hoping to get an interview."

"You're right, it is no excuse," the older woman said with a glare. "Consider yourself lucky that you are one of the few columnists we have in our fashion division, Ms. Michalchuk. If we had more writers, you would have been canned weeks ago. Now if you don't mind, I have more important things to do than stand here wasting my time with you." And with that, the woman was off.

"Damn it."

Paige Michalchuk, head fashion columnist for _Très Femme _Magazine, was not a happy camper.  Things just weren't going her way. Her mission to get an interview with Sue Wong failed, she got about four hours of sleep, and now her boss hated her even more than before. Not to mention that the rest of the day was going to be filled with boring phone calls with potential clients and lousy paper work.

'Nope, things are definitely not going my way,' Paige thought to herself as she walked briskly to the elevator, her stiletto heels making a clicking sound with each step.

When she finally reached her destination, she pressed the up button exactly three times, like she always had. She waited five seconds before the bell rang and the shiny elevator doors opened, like they always had. The elevator was empty, like it always had been. 

'I think I'm sensing serious deja vous,' Paige thought to herself sarcastically as she stepped inside. She pressed the button labeled 8 and waited. When the bell rung for the final time, the doors opened once more and Paige stepped out, like always. 

She walked down the hallway, ignoring the young girl that called her name, until she reached the door labeled 'Paige Michalchuk'. She set her leather brief case onto her already messy desk and threw herself onto the chair next to it. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

'This is going to be a long day,' she thought to herself as there was a knock on the door. Before she could tell them to go away, the door opened and it seemed they decided to come in anyway.

The girl that came in was the one that had called Paige's name earlier. She was a young girl who was slightly plump, but had the face of an angel and could be described as having natural beauty. She had a nervous, but determined look on her face as she walked up to Paige's desk.

"Paige, listen…" she started, but didn't get a chance to finish.

"No Terri," Paige interrupted, "I don't want to hear about any phone calls or papers right now. All I want to do is relax."

"Paige, it's not about that…"

"I'm 22 years old, I should be out partying or wasting my life away. Not sitting here wondering why everything in my life is the same. I need some fucking change in my life, or I am going to go insane."

"I understand that Paige, but…"

"You know what else? I haven't seen my fiancé in a week! A whole fucking week! We're engaged, Ter, we're supposed to see each other every fucking day!" By now Paige was screaming, and the determined look on Terri's face was gone and a slightly scared one took its place.

"Paige, I'm quitting," Terri said quickly. Paige lifted her head that was currently in her hands.

"You're what?" she said with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Um, I'm quitting," Terri said again, just as quietly.

"You can't quit! You're my secretary! How am I going to replace you?" Paige yelled putting a hand to her head. "Oh God, I'm never going to get anything done, and then I'll get fired, and then I'll be living on the streets and…Oh my god, Ter! I know I said I wanted change, but this is too much!"

"Calm down. Take deep breaths," Terri instructed, taking a few herself. Once Paige managed to start breathing properly, Terri continued. "Everything will be fine, Paige."

"How is it going to be fine?" Paige said, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I don't have time to look for a new secretary! I barely have time to breath!"

"You don't have to worry about that," Terri said. "Because I've already found a replacement." 

"Really? Who?" Paige asked. Right then, the door flew open and a young man stepped in. He looked in his early twenties, and was obviously a skater of some kind, the skate board attached to his backpack giving it away. He was wearing baggy jeans and a blue tee shirt that had 'Yellowcard' written across it. His outfit combined with his brown shaggy hair made it appear as if he had just rolled out of bed.

"Hey, I'm not late am I Ter?" the man asked.

"Nope, just in time," Terri smiled. "Paige, I'd like you to meet one of my old friends from high school. Paige, meet Gavin Mason."

"Usually I tell people to call me Spinner, but you can call me whatever you want," Spinner said with a wink. Paige looked like she was about to faint.

"Um, Ter? Could I have a word with you?" And before Terri could answer, Paige was dragging her out of her office and by no means being gentle about it. "Okay, first of all, why in the hell are you quitting?"

"Because I need to go back to school, Paige," Terri explained. "I was only half way finished with college when I got this job. I had to drop out of school because being your secretary took up all my time. This is an awesome job and I have a lot of fun, but it's not what I want to be for the rest of my life."

"Alright, that I can understand. But why did you bring that…thing in here to replace you?" Paige said with a look of disgust covering her face.

"He may not be Mr. Trendy, but he's really a great guy once you get to know him. And he's a lot smarter then he looks," Terri said in a not so convincing tone. "I think he'd make a great secretary. Just don't fall for his charms. As charming as he may seem, he has a history of having one to many one night stands if you know what I mean."

"God Terri. I don't even want to be within ten feet of that mess, do you really think I want to date him?" she said back with a hint of distaste lingering in her voice.

"Right," Terri laughed. "Just give him a chance, Paige. At least let him be a temporary substitute until you find someone else."

"I don't know Ter," Paige started. "I tend to avoid people who look like they don't even know who Versace is."

"Well, you're the one who wanted change in your life," Terri brought up. Paige contemplated this for a minute until she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Ugh," she said closing her eyes. "Fine, but if he's no good, it's gonna be on your ass, Macgregor."

"Thank you!" Terri laughed giving her a hug. 

"Alright, now you guys can kiss," a new voice interrupted. "Just pretend I'm not here."

"Oh would you shut up," Terri said rolling her eyes. "You shouldn't say perverted stuff like that around your new boss."

"I got the job?" Terri nodded. "Aw, sweet! Now Ellie won't be bitching to me about rent."

"Well, I still have to pack up the rest of my things," Terri said. "I'll let you two get to know each other." And with that, she left Paige and Spinner to talk amongst themselves.

"So, Paige is it?" Spinner asked, following Paige into her office.

"Yes, but I am your boss so call me Ms. Michalchuk from now on," Paige said taking a seat at her desk. Spinner took a seat on the other side of the desk so that he was facing her. He leaned back and put his feet on top of her desk.

"Ms. Michalchuk, I think I like that," he said. Paige rolled her eyes. "Just call me Spinner."

"What kind of name is Spinner?"

"Gavin is my real name," Spinner explained, "But Spinner was my nick name in high school and it just kinda stuck."

"Well, I think I like Gavin better," Paige said in a superior tone.

"Whatever," Spinner said with a shrug. "Anywho, I was thinking that maybe we could go out tonight, get to know each other better."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to have to say no," she replied as she started writing notes on the paper in front of her.

"Oh come on!" Spinner urged taking his feet off her desk. He placed his elbows where his feet just left and smiled at Paige. "We could go out to dinner, get some drinks, maybe go back to my place…"

"Terri was right. A real charmer," Paige mumbled sarcastically to herself. "Listen. I appreciate the invite, but your attempts to hit on me are pitiful. Terri told me about your reputation with the ladies, so I'm going to have to pass. Besides, I already have a boyfriend. So, sorry, but no."

"Damn, I thought I was getting somewhere too," Spinner said, leaning back in the chair once more. Paige laughed. "So you have a boyfriend?"

"Fiancé actually," Paige said putting away her papers, deciding that she wasn't going to get much done with her new secretary around.

'He'd be more of a fiancé if we actually saw each other once in a while,' she thought to herself bitterly.

"Oh shit, I feel like an ass now," Spinner laughed.

"Well, you must be used to that."

"Ouch! Your a feisty one, Ms. Michalchuk," Spinner smiled. "Well, at least Ellie won't be pissed tomorrow morning. She's always complaining about how the moaning and thumping keeps her up." Paige ignored the last part of his remark, deciding she'd rather not know.

"Who's this Ellie person?"

"Oh, Ellie's my roommate," Spinner said casually. "We met back in elementary school and we've been inseparable since."

"You two ever date?" Paige asked nosily.

"Not really, but we've hooked up a few times. I'm not opposed to friends with benefits," he said with a smirk.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," Paige said raising an eyebrow. Paige was about to say something else, when a heavy breathing Terri walked in.

"Hey Spin, could you give me a hand out here," she asked taking a breath between each word. Spinner laughed.

"That's what I'm here for," he said and followed Terri out of the office. Paige rolled her eyes and took her papers back out. She was just about to get started again, when a high pitched version of 'The Way You Look Tonight' filled the room. Paige slammed her pen on her desk.

'There could've been some sign saying I wasn't going to get anything done today,' Paige thought to herself. 'I would've just stayed home.'

"Hello?" Paige answered irritably into her cell phone.

"Someone's in a great mood," the person on the other line said sarcastically.

"Well someone is having a shitty day," Paige snapped back. "What do you want, Hazel?"

"Well, I was just going to ask if you got that interview with Sue Wong, but now you've got me interested in your day. What happened?"

"Hun, you don't even want to know," Paige said rubbing her temples. "First, Ms. Mench bitched at me for being late and I have a feeling she's starting to think I'm the devil's spawn or something. Then I had a nervous breakdown because I just started realizing that I had no change in my life. Then Terri tells me she's quitting so she can go back to school. And I start freaking out again because I don't have time to look for a new secretary, but she assures me that she's already found a replacement. That replacement turns out to be some horny skater boy that wouldn't know good fashion if it kicked him in the ass."

"Oh, what does he look like?"

"Well, he's got brown shaggy hair, he's a little taller then me. He's got kind of a lean build, but you can tell he's got some kind of muscle under that ugly, out of date tee shirt."

"He wore a tee shirt?" Hazel replied in a surprised tone.

"Yeah, and he hit on me within five minutes of meeting me," she said. "He felt kind of stupid when I told him I was practically married." Hazel laughed.

"Well, is he cute?"

"Hazel! You know I'm engaged," Paige laughed back.

"Oh come on, give me something!"

"Well, he definitely has no sense in fashion whatsoever, but he is kind of cute now that I think about it," Paige said. "Not that I'd give him the satisfaction of knowing that."

"You wouldn't be the Paige Michalchuk I know if you did," Hazel laughed. "Well, I gotta get going. Try to get a picture of this new guy. I have to see him."

"Yeah, yeah," she laughed at her boy crazy friend and hung up. Paige was about to finally try and get some work done, when she heard laughter outside her office. She got up and opened the door to find at least seven women surrounding Spinner, all laughing at whatever he had just told them.

"Ahem," Paige cleared her throat.

"Oh hey Paige," one of the women said, still chuckling. "We were just introducing ourselves to your new secretary."

"Right," Paige mumbled. 

"Spinner!" Paige heard a voice from across the room yell. "You're supposed to be helping me here!"

"Oh, whoops. Sorry Ter! I'll be right there!" he yelled back. "Well ladies, it was nice meeting you all. Maybe I'll run into you later. Bye." And with that, he was off to go find his friend in distress.

"Oh my God! He is so cute! Do you know if he has a girlfriend?"

"Never in my 36 years on this planet have I ever seen someone so roguishly handsome. Maybe if I ask my husband nicely, he'll let me have an affair with him."

"You'd actually ask? I'd just go for it!"

"Did you see how nice his ass looked in those jeans?"

"Oh yeah, I would die to get a piece of that."

"Has a girl ever been arrested for raping a man?"

Paige couldn't believe what she was hearing. Most of these women were both beautiful and independent, not to mention married or in a relationship. And here they were acting like teenagers over a boy who didn't even know how to dress decently.

'Oh God, I really am going crazy.'

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Oh man, I didn't expect it to take this long to finish. Actually, I stopped writing for a while. I didn't even think I was going to put it up. But I did. Well, review and tell me what you think. I don't really know where this story is going, so it might take a while for the next chapter to come out. Well, hope you like it.

**[Ashley, 10-6-03]**


	2. I Would Choke On the Rhines

**Title:** Beautiful Oblivion

**Rating: **PG-13 for language and themes

**Characters: **Paige, Spinner, Terri, Ashley…(pretty much everyone, eventually)

**Pairings: **Paige/Spinner, not sure about any other pairings

**Summary: **Major AU. As a fashion columnist for a very popular magazine, Paige Michalchuk is all about business. But her world is turned upside down when she meets her new party boy secretary, Gavin 'Spinner' Mason.

**Disclaimer: **None of these characters belong to me. Don't sue.

**A/N: **Er…wow, it's been forever since I updated! Well, I'm hitting a brick wall in trying to rewrite chapter two of 'Glory Fades', so I'll try this. Well, read and enjoy!

**[ Ashley, 8-?-04 ]**

WARNING: THIS STORY IS ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, SO THE THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED IN DEGRASSI THE SERIES MAY NOT HAVE HAPPENED IN THIS STORY

"Noah, honey? I'm home," Paige said tiredly, stepping into her apartment. She set her paperwork on the kitchen table and took off her coat, hanging it on the rack. When she heard a muffled reply, she promptly slipped off her shoes and flopped onto the couch. She closed her eyes and buried her face into the couch cushion.

"Hey babe, I missed you! I just got back an hour ago," her fiancée said upon walking out of their bedroom. He leaned down and gave Paige a quick peck on the cheek, before heading over to the kitchen.

"How was your trip?"

"Eh, nothing special. How was work?"

"Well," she took her face out of the couch cushion to reply, "my boss still hates me, Terri quit, and now I have an immature little asshole for a secretary. So I'm going to go with horrible." Noah laughed.

"Sorry I asked," he said. "So, what would you like for dinner? I'll make whatever you want." Paige smiled to herself.

"Would you kill me if I said I wanted left-over Chinese food?"

"Left-over Chinese it is," Noah chuckled.

"But I may take you up on that offer in the future," Paige called from the couch, making Noah laugh once again. Normally, she would have gotten up to help him, especially considering she hadn't seen him in a week, but today she was just too tired. Work had drained all the energy out of her system and just walking was difficult.

'God, figures that the day Noah comes back proves to be the worst day in the history of bad days,' Paige thought to herself, mindlessly drawing patterns on the carpet with her finger. 'I don't know how I'm going to survive work from now on. I can't believe Terri even brought Gavin near me. She should know that I have high standards, and anyone with half a brain would know that he certainly doesn't meet them. And it doesn't help that half the girls in my office think he's some sort of Sex God. As if.'

Before she could further ponder the matter, the sound of someone singing caught her attention. She looked over the top of the couch and into the kitchen, where she found Noah singing to the tune of Journey's 'Open Arms.' As she watched him, she couldn't help but smile at her soon to be husband.

When they met, Paige knew it was love at first sight, as cliché as it sounded. It wasn't just physical attraction, although Paige had to admit it was hard to ignore his chiseled features, hard body, and perfect smile. As good as he looked, the electricity that ran through her body the minute they locked eyes was even better.

From there on out, the two had dated for nearly two years before getting engaged. Her parents had been completely against it, citing that at 27, he was too old for her, and she was entirely too yound to get married. In her heart, she somewhat agreed with them. She was only 22, and plus, both of their work schedules combined made it difficult to see each other often. But with one look at the 14K diamond ring on her finger, her brain told her otherwise and she pushed her doubts aside. Besides, now that he was back from that trip, they would be able to spend more quality time together.

"Paige, dinner's ready!" Noah called from the kitchen. She groaned and sat up slowly. She stretched her back and made her way into the kitchen. On the table, next to her paperwork, was a steaming plate filled with fried rice, Kung Pao chicken, and egg rolls.

Paige heard her stomach grumble and remembered she had skipped lunch. One look at the plate and it took all she had not to shove her face into the food. Instead, she slowly walked over to the table and sat down, putting a napkin on her lap and snapping the chop sticks apart. Before she could dig in, she heard Noah walk up behind her.

"Night, Paige," he said, kissing the top of her head. He started walking towards their bedroom, but before he could get any further, Paige pulled him back by tugging on his t-shirt.

"You're not going to eat?" she asked. Noah shook his head.

"No, I already ate on the plane," he yawned. "Besides, I am dead tired, all I want to do is sleep."

"Well, alright," she said with a frown. She pulled him down for a kiss. "I love you."

"Love you, too, babe," he said with a smile. He gave her another quick kiss before leaving to the bedroom. Paige sighed.

'So much for quality time together,' she thought to herself.

Paige ate almost everything on the plate, stopping only when she felt she would explode if she ate anymore. She placed her dish in the sink, making a note to herself to clean it up in the morning. With another sigh, Paige placed her elbows on the counter and stared at her ring finger.

'Maybe Mom is right, maybe getting married is a bad idea,' she thought, watching the light reflect off the diamond. 'No. Don't even think it, Paige. Alright, so we barely talked after not seeing each other for a week, so what? We were tired. We'll talk in the morning. We'll have coffee and eggs and bacon and we'll catch up and everything will be great. Just great.'

Deciding that she was too tired to think, Paige headed to the bedroom to get some sleep. But on her way out of the kitchen, she spotted a fortune cookie sitting on the counter.

'That's funny, I thought I threw all of these away,' she thought with a raised eyebrow. Paige, the cynic that she was, thought fortune cookies were nothing but a pile of crap. She didn't believe in them and thought anyone that did was an idiot. With that theory in mind, she took one look at the cookies and threw them away without a second thought. 'I guess I forgot one.'

She picked the cookie off the counter and glared at it. She considered throwing it away, but with a shrug, she tore open the wrapper. She broke open the cookie and took the slip of paper out.

'There appear to be many clouds, but they'll pass. Sun will shine soon enough.

Lucky Numbers: 2, 17, 21, 25, 32'

Paige stared at the piece of paper for a few moments before rolling her eyes and throwing the cookie and the fortune into the wastebasket. She walked towards her bedroom, deciding sleep was more important than some stupid fortune.

…

Paige cringed as the boisterous beeping of her alarm clock sounded right into her ear. With a groan, she reached over to her nightstand and turned the annoying device off. With heavy eyes, she noted that she was alone in bed, the spot next to her vacant. Figuring Noah was in the kitchen, Paige yawned and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

When she finished up, she emerged from the bathroom in a pink robe with her hair wrapped in a towel. She put on a pair of purple slippers and headed to the kitchen.

"Morning, honey. I was thinking we could have-," Paige started, but when she looked up, the kitchen was empty. She walked over to the kitchen table where a piece of paper and pen sat. Paige grabbed the piece of paper and read it.

_Paige,_

_I had to leave early for work this morning, sorry I didn't tell you last night, it must've slipped my mind. I would've woken you up to say goodbye, but you looked too cute sleeping. I'll see you later tonight, I'll call if I'm going to be late. Love you, babe._

_Noah._

Paige took in a deep breath and slammed the piece of paper on the table. If last night wasn't the last straw, this morning was. With tears in her eyes, Paige had every intention of taking off her beloved engagement ring and throwing it out the window. And she would have, had it not been for the person knocking at her door.

'What the hell? Who would come over at 6 o'clock in the morning,' Paige thought to herself, forgetting her frustrations for just a moment. Her eyes lit up as a thought came into her mind. 'Maybe it's Noah. Maybe he decided we needed to have breakfast together. Or maybe he's taking the day off so we can spend the whole day together.'

With that in mind, Paige practically ran to the door. She unlocked the door and with a huge smile plastered on her face, she swung the door open.

"Morning, Paige. Oh, I mean Ms. Michalchuk, sorry."

For a few seconds, all Paige could do was stare. And when she could stare no more, she just started to cry. With the notion that Noah was at the door, added to who really was at the door, she couldn't stop the tears from cascading down her face. She slammed the door shut and crumpled onto the floor, sobbing.

On the other side of the door, Spinner was left staring at the green door of his boss's apartment. He turned the doorknob, opening the door tentatively, and took a peek inside.

"Um, Ms. Michalchuk? You there?" he asked, scanning the room. He heard a sob and looked at the floor, finding his boss curled into a ball crying. He dropped his backpack and rushed over to her. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Paige took her head out of her arms and stared at her secretary. She had only known the boy for less than 24 hours and he was already the source of all her problems. If it weren't for him, work wouldn't have been so bad. And if work wouldn't have been so bad, she could've spent more time with Noah. And if she would've spent more time with Noah, she wouldn't be on the floor crying. She glared at Spinner.

"No I'm not okay! Do I look like I'm okay?" she asked with a snarl, her sadness shifting into anger.

"Er…no, actually, you looked pretty pissed," Spinner replied with a smirk. Paige stood up and narrowed her eyes at Spinner.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here? And how in the hell did you find out where I live?"

"Well," Spinner stood up as well, "I got your address from Terri, and I got to thinking, since I'm your secretary and all, maybe we should have breakfast together." Paige raised her eyebrows at him.

"I thought I told you yesterday," she crossed her arms over her chest, "I already have a boyfriend."

"Oh no, no. It's nothing like that," he said. "I'm not talking about a date or anything. We'll just have a cup of coffee, talk about business, you know. So how's about it?" Paige scoffed.

"No way!" Spinner grabbed her by her shoulders and looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Come on, you have to come with me! I mean, I just started the job, I don't know my way around, I don't know anyone…" he rambled on. Paige rolled her eyes.

"Gavin, practically all the girls in our office introduced themselves to you yesterday." Spinner let out an annoyed sigh.

"Fine, but I need to know which ones are single and which ones are married, you know, that kind of stuff," he said. Paige laughed.

"So that's what you meant by business?"

Spinner, ignoring her remark, continued, "And plus, you could tell me what you're so mad about. I always listen to Ellie when she's upset, even if she thinks I'm not listening." With a sigh, Paige looked up at the man who had been the cause of so many problems.

"You really want to go out to breakfast?" He nodded and she rolled her eyes. "Fine, we'll go." Spinner smiled.

"Great!" They stood there awkwardly for a few moments, before Paige spoke up.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Spinner asked.

"Are we going to go or not?" Paige asked. He laughed.

"I didn't think you'd want to go out like that," he pointed to her ensemble, "but whatever." Paige could feel her face burning with embarrassment.

"I'll be right back," she said, turning around quickly and heading to her bedroom, not wanting her secretary to see her beet red face.

She did her makeup and dried her hair in a hurry, then headed to her closet to pick out an outfit. She opted for a black, mock wrap day dress and black leather pumps. With one last look at the full-length mirror, she walked out of her bedroom and into the kitchen.

"Hey, where'd you get this Chinese food? It's really good," she heard Spinner say from the sink. Paige scrunched up her nose in disgust as she saw Spinner leaning over the sink, eating whatever she left on her plate from the night before.

"Okay, ew. That's been sitting out all night," she said incredulously, not believing what she was seeing. Spinner shrugged.

"Your point?"

"That's definitely gross," she said with a hint of distaste. Spinner laughed and walked over to the door, picking up his discarded backpack and slinging it over his arm.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I just have to get my coat and briefcase," she replied and Spinner waited at the door. "Oh, are we taking your car, or did you come here by a cab?"

"No, and no." Paige returned, coat on and briefcase in hand, and raised an eyebrow at Spinner.

"Then how did you get here?"

"I came on my skateboard," he turned around so Paige could see the skateboard attached to his backpack. She glared at him.

"God, I hate you." Spinner just smirked and opened the door. Paige moved to go out first, but Spinner stood in her way.

"Woah, hold on a second," he walked out into the hallway. "Beauty before the beast." And with that he laughed and ran down the hallway. Paige took a minute to compose herself before running after him.

"You are so going to die for that!"

I'd like to give a HUGE (so HUGE, I have to capitalize HUGE) thank you to all of the reviewers. You guys rock it to the max. I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but hopefully it'll be soon. Until then, farewell kiddies.

**[Ashley, 8-?-04]**


	3. But the Lack Thereof

**Title:** Beautiful Oblivion

**Rating: **PG-13 for language and themes

**Characters: **Paige, Spinner, Terri, Ashley…(pretty much everyone, eventually)

**Pairings: **Paige/Spinner, not sure about any other pairings

**Summary: **Major AU. As a fashion columnist for a very popular magazine, Paige Michalchuk is all about business. But her world is turned upside down when she meets her new party boy secretary, Gavin 'Spinner' Mason.

**Disclaimer: **None of these characters belong to me. Don't sue.

**A/N: **Holy crap, am I updating? I think I am. Ladies and gentleman, hell has just frozen over.

** Ashley, 2-19-06 **

WARNING: THIS STORY IS ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, SO THE THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED IN DEGRASSI THE SERIES MAY NOT HAVE HAPPENED IN THIS STORY

…

"Wait, so Sarah is married?"

"Yeah, but she's a notorious cheater. The more guys she sleeps with, the happier she is."

"What about Amber?"

"She's married too, but her and her husband are rumored to be into swinging, so if you're interested…"

"Uh no, thanks," Spinner said, shifting uncomfortably. Paige laughed. "So what happened this morning?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, taking a sip of her coffee. Spinner raised an eyebrow.

"While I'm not the brightest crayon in the box," Spinner paused so that Paige could snort, "I do know that usually when a woman is crying hysterically, something's wrong."

Paige was about to tell Gavin to mind his own beeswax, when he noticed something, or rather someone, over her shoulder. Paige turned around to see who he was looking at, only to find a petite redhead wearing all black.

"Ellie? What're you doing here?" Spinner called out, standing up from his seat. The girl rolled her eyes and pointed to her coffee cup.

"Oh, I thought people went to coffee shops to drink coffee, my mistake," Ellie said sarcastically. Ellie, finally realizing Spinner was not alone, raised her eyebrow at Paige.

"Oh! Uh, Paige this Ellie, Ellie this is Paige, my new boss," he said, in the most professional voice he could muster.

"It's nice to meet you," Paige said, shaking Ellie's hand. "Gavin's told me a lot about you."

"Vicious lie, I'm sure," Ellie said, sending a mock glare to Spinner. Spinner laughed and pulled her onto his lap.

And for a minute, the threesome remained silent. There was a lot of tension in the room, though Paige wasn't sure why. She'd only known this girl for a few minutes, and anyone who could put up with Gavin for over ten years had to be some kind of superhero. She had no reason to hate Ellie.

'Well I have no reason to like her either,' Paige reasoned to herself. And as Ellie started to play with Spinner's hair, she found herself not liking Ellie just a little bit more.

"Well, I think we better head out," Paige suddenly exclaimed, making the other two jump. "Wouldn't want you to be late on your first day." Spinner nodded, and he and Ellie stood up.

"I'll see you when I get home," he told her, pulling her in for a hug. She gave him a peck on the lips, then headed to another table. Paige felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach.

'Definitely no reason to like her,' Paige thought, a scowl on her face.

After they gathered their things, the twosome exited the café and took a right.

"So, uh, you and Ellie seem close," Paige observed, trying to get some more information on the situation, though she wasn't sure why she cared.

"Yeah," Spinner said nonchalantly. "I love her." Paige's eyes got wide as she stared at Spinner.

"You love her? Well then why aren't you two, you know…together?" Spinner shrugged.

"She doesn't feel the same way." Paige snorted.

"It sure seems like she feels the same way," she exclaimed, still not sure why she was being so nosy about this. "Gavin, she was all over you!"

"She's had a rough couple of months and I've been there for her," Spinner said, shrugging again. "I know she loves me, just not the way I love her. It's okay, though. She knows I'm here if she ever needs some lovin'." He winked and Paige rolled her eyes.

"So basically, whenever she's feeling shitty she'll act like your girlfriend, but after that, she only wants to be friends?" Paige questioned, not sure where she was going with this.

"Yeah, basically," Spinner replied. Paige scoffed.

"I can't believe you let her do that to you."

"Look, she's not doing anything wrong, okay? Just because she doesn't feel the same way about me doesn't mean we can't be close. If anything, it makes me feel better. When I told her I loved her, she could've packed her bags and left, but she didn't. It's not her fault she doesn't feel the same way. People can't choose who they love, Paige…I mean, Ms. Michalchuk."

As Spinner concluded his little rant, Paige found herself speechless. For the few hours she had known him, Paige thought Gavin to be an extremely horny, dense guy who didn't know left from right. She had never expected him to come up with something so deep. And before she could come up with any kind of retort, they found themselves at the doors to the main entrance.

"Here we are," Spinner said, holding the door open for Paige, a gesture that did not go unnoticed.

They both showed their identification cards to the person at the front desk and proceeded to make their way to the elevator. As they were walking, Paige noticed Mrs. Mench headed right towards them. Try as she might to ignore it, Paige couldn't help but squirm under the glare of the menacing woman. She opened her mouth to say something, anything that might impress her boss, but she was interrupted.

"Good morning, Mrs. Mench," Spinner said cheerfully. "You look awesome, blue is definitely your color." Paige's jaw dropped as she saw something she thought would never happen: Mrs. Mench blushed.

"Oh Mr. Mason, you don't have to try and make the old lady feel pretty," Mrs. Mench said in a voice much huskier than Paige remembered it being.

"Old lady? How old are you? Twenty? Twenty-five?"

"Oh, stop," Mrs. Mench giggled. Paige couldn't suppress her shudder at the awful sound. "Well, I must be going. It was nice running into you."

"Have a good day, ma'am," Spinner waved a goodbye. Paige coughed as the woman practically swooned right in front of them.

"Mr. Mason," Mrs. Mench said, giving him a smile. She looked sharply at Paige, giving her a curt nod. "Ms. Michalchuk."

And with that, the woman continued walking down the hallway, but not before giving Spinner one last smile. Paige found herself staring at her boss's retreating back in disbelief. As soon as the woman was out of eyesight, Paige punched Spinner in the stomach.

"Oof!" Spinner exclaimed. He bent over and coughed a bit. "What the hell was that for?"

"You made me look like a complete idiot in front of my boss!" Paige said angrily, trying to keep her voice down. "She was practically drooling all over you while I stood there looking like a total jackass!" Spinner stayed silent for a moment, before breaking into a smile.

"Oh I get it," he said, with a bit of mischief in his tone. "You're jealous."

"Excuse me? Jealous? Of what?"

"Well, Mrs. Mench does look pretty good for her age…" he trailed off.

"Oh no. There is no way you are suggesting Mrs. Mench of all people is better looking than me," Paige said, shaking her head. "No way."

"Hey, you said it, not me," Spinner laughed. Paige huffed and stomped her way to the elevator, a giggling Spinner following her.

When the elevator finally reached their floor, the two stepped in. Paige continued her ritual of pressing the button labeled eight three times before resuming her spot against the wall. The two settled into a comfortable silence. She couldn't explain it, but whenever she was around him, she felt at ease. Sure they teased each other and sometimes he made her want to pound his head against a brick wall, but she felt comfortable around him.

However, the silence was not to last, as her cell phone rang just as they reached level 2.

"Hello?"

"Hey beautiful."

Paige felt a surge of emotions. Anger, joy, anger, happiness, anger…well, mostly just anger. She wasn't about to forget how awful her morning had started.

"Noah? Is that you?" Paige snapped, her voice sharp. "Sorry, it's just we haven't spoken in so long, I can barely recognize your voice."

"Very funny babe," Noah replied, sounding very distracted. "Listen, it's chaos over here. I leave these knuckleheads for one week and everything goes down the toilet. I won't be home until late." Spinner raised a confused eyebrow as Paige growled.

"Oh, hey, don't worry about it. It's not like we're engaged and about to start a life together or anything. Here's an idea, why don't you move to Singapore. I'm sure we'd see as much of each other then as we do now," Paige practically barked into her phone. Spinner cautiously waved a hand in front of her face.

"Uh, Paige, we're here…" he said, pointing to the now opened doors of the elevator.

"Shut up, Gavin!" Paige screamed, not paying one bit of attention to the woman who just entered the elevator. Spinner watched in horror as the woman pressed the button labeled seventy-five. This was going to be a long ride.

"Paige, honey, you're not making any sense," Noah said on the other end of the phone.

"Oh, I'm not making any sense? I'm not making any sense? You hear that Gavin, I'm not making any sense!" Paige cried. Spinner, fearing for his life a little, smiled and nodded. "I'll tell you what doesn't make sense, Noah dear. The fact that we've been engaged for almost five months now and we've probably only been together two whole days out of those five months. Now tell me something, Noah. Does that make any fucking sense?"

And with that, Paige snapped her phone shut. She ignored the looks she was getting from both Spinner and the anonymous woman in the elevator, choosing instead to focus on chewing her nails.

"Are…are you okay?" Spinner asked tentatively. Paige pondered this for a moment.

'Of course I'm not okay, you idiot. I just got into a huge argument with my future husband. How okay do you think I am?' Paige thought to herself, but couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. Because it just wasn't true.

"I'm…" she searched for the right words, "…better." And it was the truth. She felt strangely peaceful, despite the fact that she had just shouted at the top of her lungs to her fiancé. At this, Spinner flashed her a smile, which Paige returned.

A few minutes of silence later, the elevator finally reached floor seventy-five. The anonymous woman scrambled out of the contraption, no doubt wanting to get away from the crazed blonde and her goofy sidekick. As she made her way out, Spinner continued with tradition and pressed the button labeled eight three times.

"So what's your favorite color?" Spinner asked, breaking the silence.

"What?" Paige asked back, not sounding very interested.

"It's going to be a long way down, we might as well get to know each other a little better," he explained, taking a seat on the floor. "So what's your favorite color?" Paige rolled her eyes, but eventually complied, taking a seat across from Spinner.

"Blue. My favorite color is blue," she said.

"Orange," he replied. He motioned for her to go on. "Okay, now you ask a question." Paige chewed on her lip.

"Um…favorite food?"

"Pizza," he answered immediately. "You?"

"Sushi."

"Gross!" Spinner exclaimed, making a face.

"Says the man who ate Chinese food that had been sitting out all night," Paige retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever. Favorite movie?"

"'_Now, Voyager_.'"

"'_The Parent Trap_.'" Paige gave him a funny look and he shrugged. "I think twins are funny." Paige laughed.

"Favorite scent?"

"Um, the scent of air?" Spinner shrugged again. Paige kicked him.

"C'mon, be serious."

"Fine," he sighed. "I like the smell of winter."

"Mine is vanilla of course."

"Of course," Spinner said, mimicking a valley girl and flipping his nonexistent hair. "Favorite drink?"

"Uh, mimosa."

"Vodka martini," he replied, to which Paige raised her eyebrows. "What? They make me feel rich and important." Paige couldn't suppress a giggle.

"Alright, favorite band?"

"Sex Pistols."

"Journey," Paige replied, and this time it was Spinner who began giggling. "What? What's wrong with Journey?"

"N-nothing," he said, but he didn't stop laughing. "Favorite place to have sex?" Paige rolled her eyes.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Yeah, I would actually," he replied, but Paige remained silent. "Well I know what mine is. See, at my apartment, we have this balcony. Grab a couple blankets, get comfy, have some fun, and fall asleep under the stars. And if you wake up early enough, you might catch the sunset. The view is breathtaking, it makes you feel so peaceful. Like everything at that very moment is perfect."

They sat in silence as Paige pondered this. One minute he would act like a complete fool, the next he'd be waxing poetry about love and sunsets. Maybe he wasn't as bad as she thought he was.

"Which helps when you kick them out," Spinner continued, interrupting her thoughts. "It's like, sure it was a one night stand, but hey, at least you get this view." Paige stared at him in disbelief.

"You're an ass," she said, standing up from her position on the floor.

And at that very moment, the elevator dinged once again as it had reached level eight. Paige gathered up her things and walked out of the elevator, leaving her companion behind without a second glance.

"What? What'd I say?" he called out to her. Rolling his eyes, Spinner stood up, deciding that he best just follow.

…

A/N: Big thanks to the reviewers!


End file.
